


The Opposite of Howard

by Finely Honed (jaqen_hgar)



Series: Imagine Tony & Bucky [45]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Bucky Barnes Recovering, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Kid Bucky Barnes, M/M, Mutual Pining, Nightmares, Singing, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-27
Updated: 2015-06-27
Packaged: 2018-04-06 11:46:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4220490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaqen_hgar/pseuds/Finely%20Honed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <span class="small">Prompt: we’ve had Tony de-aged into a cute kid so imagine Bucky being the one to be turned into a cute kid. everyone thinks that kid!Bucky would stay near Steve but surprisingly he likes Tony the best.</span>
</p><p>Nobody was more surprised than Tony when a tiny little Winter Soldier—complete with his magically shrunken arm and arsenal—took off running not for Captain America, but for Iron Man.</p><p>“Uh…”</p><p>“Get the guns before he hurts himself,” Cap shouted.</p><p>He was only shouting so he could be heard over the ruckus of the battle, but you’d have thought he was yelling at Bucky by the way the kid reacted. Tony found himself with a shaking Winter Soldier cowering behind his leg, and instinctively placed his hand on Bucky’s shoulder to comfort him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Opposite of Howard

**Author's Note:**

> Combined with:  
> Hey, I'd like to see Bucky being deaged to a 7year old, but keeping his metal arm(it changed size with him)and having flashes of his memories as the winter soldier. He's trrified and confused and the only person who can calm him down is Tony(since he associaties Steve with bad memories and pain). Tony takes care of him and sees how adorable and bright Bucky was as a kid. Becomes even angrier that anyone fould hurt him. Fluff and hurt/comf. Pleaaaaseeee? :)
> 
> and:  
> Imagine Bucky or Tony having a really good singing voice, and them singing to the other to calm them down after a nightmare. Or just them being goofs and singing and dancing with each other

Nobody was more surprised than Tony when a tiny little Winter Soldier—complete with his magically shrunken arm and arsenal—took off running not for Captain America, but for Iron Man.

“Uh…”

“Get the guns before he hurts himself,” Cap shouted.

He was only shouting so he could be heard over the ruckus of the battle, but you’d have thought he was yelling at Bucky by the way the kid reacted. Tony found himself with a shaking Winter Soldier cowering behind his leg, and instinctively placed his hand on Bucky’s shoulder to comfort him.

“I’m taking him out of here,” he called, tossing the guns to Hawkeye. “Can you guys handle cleanup without me?”

Cap nodded his agreement, relief washing over his features. “Thanks, Iron Man.”

“Wanna go for a ride?” he asked, looking down. Which, you know, was interesting since he was used to having to look up when Bucky was around.

Bucky, wide eyed, nodded, and all but climbed into his arms, so off they went. The whole way back, Tony couldn’t help but wonder when the hell his life had changed so drastically that the strangest thing about a teammate being deaged by Thor’s pain in the ass brother was that they ran to  _him_  for help.

As soon as he was out of the armor, he had a tiny Bucky clinging to him. Tony froze, not sure what he was supposed to do, but then he heard the whimper, and dropped to his knees with a sigh. Almost instantly he had an armful of Bucky.

“Don’t let them take me,” Bucky begged, arms tight around Tony’s neck. “They hurt me. They never stop!”

“You’re safe,” Tony swore, hating how empty the promise felt. “I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

It was surreal. Normally, he was lucky if Bucky said two words to him. It wasn’t that they didn’t get along. Bucky didn’t say much to  _anyone_. He spent more time with them all these days, fought by their side, but chit-chatting wasn’t really his thing.

Sure, Tony had developed a crush on the guy almost as soon as he’d laid eyes on him, and it hadn’t gotten any better the more he’d gotten to know the quiet, introspective, former assassin, but it wasn’t like Bucky had ever shown any interest in him whatsoever.

Well, aside from spending more time together as of late, but that was work related. He’d sought Tony out a couple weeks ago about upgrading the arm, and they’d been doing all sorts of tests and prototyping together, but he doubted Bucky thought of him as anything other than reliable tech support.

Hence the confusion as to why Bucky was so comfortable with him all of a sudden.

Whatever the reasons, Tony wasn’t above having sympathy for a scared kid. He wasn’t any sort of parenting expert (or even novice), so he figured the best course of action was to just do the opposite of whatever Howard Stark would have done.

“It’ll be okay,” Tony said, hugging Bucky tight, running a hand over his wind whipped messy hair. “I won’t  _ever_ let anyone hurt you.”

Bucky sniffled, but relaxed a bit, his tiny body shaking in Tony’s arms. He was all leather and empty holsters, which was probably kind of freaky for the kid.

“How about we get you something more comfortable to wear?”

+

“Don’t,” Tony said, and Clint snapped his mouth shut.

Bucky was barely willing to come out from behind his leg as it was. Having Clint make fun of Tony because a kid was wearing his clothes and hardly needed to roll up the cuffs of the sweatpants wasn’t going to help the situation any. Bucky might think Clint was teasing him.

“How is he,” Steve asked, rushing into the room.

Bucky whimpered, and there he went, right behind Tony again, little hands clinging to his leg like someone was going to try to take him away.

“It’s just Steve,” Tony said softly, reaching behind him to place a hand on Bucky’s head. “He’s your best friend.”

“He… He’s the enemy,” Bucky whispered in Russian, and a chill ran through Tony. “They’re watching, aren’t they? Is it another test? You  _promised_.”

Steve looked heartbroken after Natasha whispered a translation for him.

“I can go, if you’re scared,” he offered.

“It’s not a test, sweetie,” Tony promised, dropping back down to kid level. “Steve’s one of the good guys. He’d never hurt you.”

Bucky looked like he wanted to believe Tony, but a tiny metal hand was fisted in his hair, as if he was trying to stop his own thoughts.

“It’s all tangled,” Bucky whined, also in Russian. “I don’t know…”

Tony pulled him into another hug, stroking his back until the tremors stopped, and his breathing began to slow down.

“JARVIS’s best guess is six or seven,” Tony told the others, giving a little huff as he picked Bucky up. “You’re heavier than you look, munchkin.”

Bucky just hid his face, sighing once he was comfortable. Which was good, since everyone was staring at them. Tony made a, “I don’t get it either, but whatever works, right?” face.

“Thor swears this will wear off in a couple days,” Bruce said, smiling at the relief Tony figured was all over his face. “We can run some tests…”

“Nope,” Tony interrupted.

Bucky had tensed up at the word tests. Taking him to Bruce’s lab would be nightmarish for the kid. Hell, Tony wasn’t even going to let him anywhere near the workshop. Some of the stuff down there might remind him of the chair, or the cryochamber.

“We’re going to watch cartoons together, and eat too much sugar. And maybe get a puppy. Do you like dogs?”

Bucky perked up.

“Let’s order some new clothes first, and some toys, and how about dinner?” Tony asked, ignoring the looks they were getting. “If you could have anything to eat right now, what would it be?”

Bucky worried at his lower lip, as if waiting for the other shoe to drop. Tony had to wonder what was going on in that head of his.

Bucky had worked through a lot of his memory issues, had been going to group meetings with Sam, was making really great progress actually. But now? It seemed like everything was jumbled up in his head again. It made Tony want to channel his inner Hulk and smash things.

Slowly, Bucky leaned over so his mouth was close to Tony’s ear. “Spaghetti and meatballs.”

“Huh. That was my favorite when I was a kid,” Tony said, heading for the elevator. “Especially when my mom actually made it. Which, you know, wasn’t often.”

Steve watched them longingly, and Tony felt guilty, until he realized how grateful Steve looked.

“Don’t worry, Cap,” Tony said softly as they headed out. “I’ll take care of him.”

Steve clapped him on the shoulder, and smiled sadly. “I know you will.”

+

Taking care of a kid wasn’t too tough. The Opposite of Howard rule of thumb seemed to be working great so far. Kid cries? Don’t yell at them about being a man, comfort them. Kid shows interest in the tech in your suite? You hand it over, show them how it works, and then maybe you download some games and spend two or three hours shooting aliens together.

They’d ordered and devoured spaghetti and meatballs, had watched some Muppets, and somewhere along the line Bucky had fallen asleep.

Tony turned off the TV, covered him with a blanket, then headed to the bedroom with his tablet and two computers to catch up on some SI business. He didn’t realize he’d also fallen asleep until the screaming woke him up.

Bucky was thrashing, tangled up in the blanket, and almost clocked Tony with a tiny bionic fist when he tried to comfort him. JARVIS brought up the lights, which helped. Bucky was wide eyed, and terrified, his teeth chattering.

“I didn’t want to,” he swore, wiping his hands on the blanket. “I didn’t! I didn’t!”

Tony scooped him up, wrapped the blanket back around them, and did the whole comforting thing again, his heart dropping into his stomach as he pieced things together from Bucky’s sobs and stuttering assertions.

“It’s okay, you’re safe here.”

“Why did I hurt that man?” Bucky asked, hands curled against his chest as if he didn’t want to touch Tony with them. As if he still saw blood on them. “I hurt him bad. Why did I hurt him?”

How the hell was he supposed to explain brainwashing to a kid? He had no idea the sort of nightmarish memories Bucky had at his disposal.

“You didn’t have a choice, baby,” Tony swore, taking Bucky’s hands and kissing them. “It wasn’t your fault.”

“I want to be good,” Bucky whispered.

“You are,” Tony insisted. “You’re  _so good_. I promise. Come on, let’s have some hot chocolate and then you can help me with my work. I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

Bucky didn’t want to sleep, though. Tony could see how exhausted he was, but the little guy was clearly terrified. Couldn’t blame him, really. How was a kid supposed to cope with a head full of Winter Soldier memories?

Tony wanted to find every last HYDRA operative and make them pay. But first, he wanted to help Bucky.

On a lark, Tony tried singing, because he’d always thought it seemed nice in movies when a mom or dad would comfort a little kid by singing to them. He had no idea if it worked or not, but figured it was at least worth a try.

Tony went with The Smiths of all things, and was pleasantly surprised when Bucky grinned, and watched him with adoration.

_I am the son, and the heir, of a shyness that is criminally vulgar…_

Maybe not the best kid’s song, but whatever. He knew what he knew, and Bucky seemed to like the singing. So, he kept going, running through another song or two before he realized Bucky had fallen back asleep.

Tony kept the lights on low, curled up beside Bucky, and got some sleep of his own.

+

They never did get the puppy, but they did spend a lot of time together goofing off. Tony made it his mission to make Bucky laugh, and so there might have been a good bit of singing and dancing along to the Rock greats, inventing games, eating junk food, and snuggling.

It was probably bad how much he enjoyed the snuggling, but whatever. Tony figured Bucky needed snuggling more than most kids, and it was a little like he got to make up for all the affection he’d never received when he was that age.

More importantly, it helped keep Bucky calm, and made him feel safe. Tony hated seeing him torn up by the memories he couldn’t understand and didn’t ask for. It was hard enough dealing with that sort of stuff when you were an adult, let alone when you’d been magically de-aged.

The only problem was, Tony was enjoying himself a bit too much. Bucky was bright, and adorable, and a hell of a lot of fun, actually. Tony liked having him around. Oddly enough, it had taken having someone there again to make him realize how lonely he’d been since Pepper had left.

“Earth to Toooony,” Bucky called, tugging on his hand.

“Sorry, squirt. Just thinking deep thoughts.”

Bucky tugged his hand again, and Tony squatted down, a little touched and surprised when Bucky planted a kiss on his cheek. “Don’t be sad.”

“I’m not,” Tony swore, tousling Bucky’s hair. It was a lie. “Hey, wanna play Dance Dance Revolution?”

Bucky raced him to the machine and proceeded to kick his ass, but that was fine by him. Tony was going to enjoy the company while he could, and hope that Bucky didn’t resent him too much when he grew up again.

+

Ever since the first night, Bucky had slept in Tony’s bed, because it was the only way he got any sleep at all. Tony would sing to him, he’d conk out, and then after watching to make sure he wasn’t going to have a nightmare, Tony usually gave up and slept as well.

Most nights Bucky woke up at least once from a bad dream, and if Tony wasn’t in the bed when that happened, he freaked out. As a result, he tended to stay put once they were in there. Really, he’d probably gotten more restful sleep in the last few days than he had in the last few weeks.

So, it wasn’t abnormal to come right out of a deep sleep to the sound of whimpering, and automatically start singing in an attempt to calm Bucky back down. He went with The Smiths again, because Bucky had an odd attachment to them. Maybe that was his fault, since the very first song he’d sung to him had been The Smiths.

_Good times for a change_

_See the luck I’ve had_

_Could make a good man turn bad…_

Beside him, Bucky’s breath hitched, and the bed shifted under his weight. Tony yawned, rubbed his eyes, and continued.

_So please, please, please_

_Let me, let me, let me…_

Bucky was staring at him. Not the adorably affectionate seven year old, but the  _man_ , all however many pounds of muscle, and his clothes hadn’t magically grown with him this time so the previously baggy t-shirt was now stretched tight across his broad chest—by Thor’s hammer were his abs  _chiseled_ —and in bed with him, and probably about to murder him.

“Get what I want this time,” Tony finished lamely. “Hi.”

Tony figured the best course of action was to run, but he couldn’t seem to move. He didn’t _actually_  think Bucky would hurt him, but it was sort of awkward to go to sleep innocently next to a seven year old and wake up next to someone that sent your libido into overdrive.

He had to assume it was equally weird to revert to adulthood in the middle of the night and wake up in bed next to a team member you just sort of tolerated.

Bucky blinked, lowered his eyes, and that seemed almost like a blush creeping across his cheeks. And to Tony’s absolute surprise, when he opened his mouth, it wasn’t to yell, or say goodbye, or ask what the hell was going on. He  _sang_. Softly, almost too soft to hear, but he was singing nonetheless, watching Tony with a shy intensity that made his heart ache.

_Haven’t had a dream in a long time_

_See the life I’ve had_

_Could make a good man bad_

Tony swallowed around the lump in his throat, because that was one hell of a look in Bucky’s eyes on the last line there. Despite himself, he reached out, and brushed Bucky’s hair back from his forehead.

_So for once in my life, let me get what I want_

Bucky continued to sing, closing his eyes.Tony joined him on the last line, their voices harmonizing nicely.

 _Lord knows it would be the first time_.

Feeling oddly brave, Tony cleared his throat. “So, what do you want?”

Bucky pressed his lips into a thin line. “To stay,” he said softly after a prolonged silence that left Tony’s heart hammering fitfully. “If… if that’s okay.”

A strange sort of elation washed through him. Well how about that?

“Yeah, that’s okay,” Tony answered. “That’s good. I want you to stay, too.”

“Yeah?” A tiny smile crept along the corners of Bucky’s mouth, as he opened his eyes.

Tony was beaming now. “Anything else?”

“Maybe pants that fit.”

Tony burst out laughing. “Yeah, sure we can do that, too.”

He liked the way Bucky was looking at him very much. He smiled, and it was one of those adoring little smiles he’d been giving Tony over the last few days. A great smile, the sort of smile he’d never expected to see on the grown up Bucky’s face.

“And I still want a dog.”

This time, Bucky joined in with him, and they laughed together.

+

Tony took him seriously, and they went and adopted a dog, the very next day even. Oddly enough no one said anything about the fact that Bucky never bothered to go back to his own room. It was like the two of them had become a normal thing overnight.

Tony decided his life was going rather well, even if he now technically owed his happiness to Thor’s pain in the ass brother. Maybe he’d send Loki inter-dimensional flowers. That’d probably keep him guessing for days.

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on tumblr here: [dezinformatsia.tumblr.com/](http://dezinformatsia.tumblr.com/) and all of my Imagine Tony & Bucky fills can be found here: [imaginetonyandbucky.tumblr.com/tagged/dezinformatsia](http://imaginetonyandbucky.tumblr.com/tagged/dezinformatsia)


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